Caroline Ikin READY

Nymans

Transcript

00:00Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, group arts editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely

00:06this afternoon to speak to Caroline Eichen, who is the curator at Nyman's National Trust Property.

00:11And you've got a fabulous sounding exhibition there at the moment, haven't you? The art of

00:16illusion, the theatrical world of Oliver Messel. Now, for those who don't know, just remind us who

00:21Messel was and why he still matters. Well, Oliver Messel was really the most significant,

00:27he was the leading theatre designer in the 1940s and 50s. He was designing for opera, for plays at

00:34the theatre, for operettas, for musical theatre. He was really the go to designer for all the major

00:40productions. And then he went on to have a career in film as well, designing sets for for Hollywood

00:46films. He was an interior designer, then he was an architect. So he did all sorts. And we're

00:51celebrating that varied career at Nyman's this year. And the significance is he was shaped by

00:56Nyman's to an extent, wasn't he? Well, that's right. He grew up at Nyman's. And throughout the

01:02exhibition, we're drawing on how he was inspired by the garden, by the interiors of the house,

01:07particularly by his mother, Maud, who seemed to be a big influence on him in terms of her taste in

01:11historic furnishings and art. The family were great collectors. So I think all that comes across,

01:17and Oliver's built it up into this career in the arts and in theatre.

01:20And as for the timing, it was a number of things coming together. It wasn't a suggestion from a

01:25descendant, but also key to the exhibition is a very significant portrait.

01:30Well, that's right. A couple of years ago, we acquired a portrait by Oliver Messel of his sister,

01:35Anne. And this is now being conserved. We've had work done on it in our conservation studio at

01:42Knoll. So the portrait is now looking fantastic. And we wanted to showcase that at the exhibition.

01:46And it's lovely because it brings together Oliver's family. It's the portrait of his sister,

01:52who he was very close to. But it also brings in his theatre career because she's wearing a costume

01:58that he designed for one of his productions. So it's a real sort of overlap of his personal life

02:03and his work life and his artistry when he comes to the portrait.

02:08There's so much you can learn by reading a portrait, isn't there, as ever?

02:11Yes, that's right. This one in particular, it's really interesting the way she's wearing

02:16this costume. She's wearing the costume of Helen of Troy. And we've got this lovely photograph as

02:22well of Oliver wearing the costume of Paris. So the corresponding character. So, you know,

02:27the fact that I don't know whose idea it was to be to be depicted with the costume on,

02:32why that costume was chosen, there's clearly a big history behind that. So it's really interesting

02:36to untangle all these stories. That's quite a statement to put on the costume

02:40of Helen of Troy. Yes, yes, indeed. I think certainly there is something to be said there

02:44about, you know, self-projection, what they think about each other, how they see themselves.

02:50And at this point, you know, the two of them were young. They were part of the social set,

02:54the bright young things. So they were living a real life of glamorous parties, of quite hedonistic

03:00lifestyle. I mean, Oliver was a hardworking artist and theatre designer,

03:05but they clearly had lots of fun as well. Fantastic. Well, it sounds a fascinating

03:09exhibition. It runs until October the 26th, doesn't it? That's right. So yes, plenty of

03:15time to get down to Nyman's and enjoy the garden and go in the house and learn a bit about Oliver

03:19Messel. He's a great character. Congratulations on bringing it all together. And lovely to speak

03:23to you. I'm looking forward to seeing it. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.